Mike Blumenthal

Update: some interesting observations about differences between the organic results and the 5 pages in the new Lical Finder panel. I am heading out for a few more days vacation so please keep the conversation going.  It appears that Google has upgraded the Knowledge Panel that is visible in the new (early August) Local Finder, with …

Did you know that the star ratings are of less importance than the content of reviews and that readers are more inclined to convert if there are some negative reviews? Those are not the only good things about negative reviews. Read my recent post at GetFivestars.com: 6 Good Things About Negative Reviews for a whole …

Note: I am heading out for a 5 day vacation. Responses might be limited. Please fill in the blanks for me and keep the conversation going. Dave would get lonely otherwise. Google seems to have completed the roll out the new local search result with reports of its visibility from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, UK, Australia, …

I woke this morning to reports of the new mobile styled Snak Pak being seen via Safari in the Netherlands and to it now being seen nationwide in my Firefox browser. Given its increasing visibility across the US and internationally, I would suggest that this is likely a rollout not a test. I have asked …

Barry Schwartz noted (via Ryan Schilling at leadhub.net) a Google 3 Pack experiment that removed the Google Plus links. For that same search I am seeing a different, new mobile 3 pack like display test (using Firefox) on the desktop. Interestingly the mobile like three pack comes  with links to the new Local Finder that rolled …

Jeff Overmyer of MerchantCentric, who noticed the missing Yelp reviews at Yahoo, dug deeper and (gasp) actually got a response from Yahoo on Reddit: “Thanks for pointing this out! I work for Yahoo, and I’ve reported this to our Yahoo Local team*. They’ll be taking a look at this for sure. Yahoo Local doesn’t use the …

It appears that Yahoo is no longer serving up Yelp reviews. Drop maps, change their name and poof. Your old Yahoo reviews are back.

Just received this late Friday night email. Must be they are trying to avoid the news cycle. One has to wonder who writes this s%^t? Even brighter future? Sharp focus? Yes, right after minimum wage goes to $25/hr, all wars end and nuclear arms are mothballed. Dear Yahoo Small Business Customer,Two very exciting, very important …

I am not sure that I would suggest that you copy this fellow’s methodology. One has to wonder how the White House factors into this deal as well. But it does impress on me the value of pure citations. No links just lots & lots of press and TON of reviews. It’s amazing the speed with …

Google announced in the forums that they are looking for small businesses to give them feedback. This is your chance for a free lunch and the opportunity to influence product direction, Here is the  invite: Are you a small or medium business (SMB) owner based in the Bay area? If so, would you be interested …